Your natural clock can affect your lifespan.

Did you know the internal circadian clock, our body's natural clock, can affect lifespan?
A presentation by Marina Antoch, Ph.D., Roswell Park Cancer Institute, during the 43rd Annual Meeting of the American Aging Association (AGE) held May 30-June 2, 2014, presented the mechanistic link between the internal circadian clock, chronic inflammation and aging. Complete understanding of this functional interconnection is critically important for developing therapeutic and preventive strategies to treat age-related pathologies, said Dr. Antoch.

Our circadian clock, does not only affect our sleep cycles, but also weight, body temperature, hormones and other functions of the body. We live in a driven world, our senses are been (over)stimulated constantly. Paying attention and listening to our physiological needs of sleep and rest, and not operating in a drive, where the body is constantly being pushed, shouldn't be a matter of convenience or vanity.

Being aware of the deeper, long-term effects of a lifestyle that lacks nourishment, not only of food, but rest, peace, and attention, is imperative. Could you then do something small every day, that would help you prevent heart disease at no cost? Be more productive and successful on the long term, have more joy and happiness? Expand your lifespan tremendously by just "listening to your gut"?

When do we stop and take a look?

"Death is a curable disease." James Strole.

The Annual Meeting featured the latest scholarship and research findings in the field of aging research from more than 70 leading experts. The event has long been recognized as a launching pad for researchers to share cutting-edge discoveries into the underlying mechanisms of the causes of aging as well as the possible breakthroughs in finding ways to increase health span.

"The talks at this year's meeting were of exceptionally high quality with really new exciting insights on the role of gut fauna in healthy aging, protein biology, and why our daily rhythms get disrupted during aging and the widespread ramifications thereof in inflammation and biochemical signaling," said Rochelle Buffenstein, Ph.D., president and meeting chair of AGE.

Among the other weekend's highlights were:

An in-depth look by Allon Canaan, Ph.D., MSc, Yale School of Medicine, at the newly discovered FAT10 gene and how it might revolutionize the field of aging research.

A series of presentations on the role mitochondria, the cellular compartments that generate the vast majority of the energy that fuels daily activities, plays in aging.

A presentation by Kenneth B. Storey, F.R.S.C., Carleton University, on why metabolic depression in long-lived turtles leads to an increase in lifespan.